Well, as I promised in the previous blog entry. The next episode of J!Mint would be the Magento Backend integration. And here it is. Feel free to try out, and let me know your comments / suggestions for improvement.

I won't go into technical details today, but I will when releasing the whole solution at the end of GSoC 2009. Basically, this integration is done using an iFrame together with cURL.

I have been looking into the pros and cons of iFrames, and imo, iframe-on-the-frontend is a big NO; however, iframe-on-the-backend is quite reasonable to implement. Especially, when what we want to achieve is bring the whole Backend from Magento to Joomla without concerns about the Magento backend template ( js, css, div elements ).

Screenshots:

 A new section called "Magento Admin"

Loading Magento Admin: First when you open up the section

This is the main screen after loading. Now you can efficiently use the Full Screen button on top, and the Top of Page at the bottom to easily navigate up & down the screen.

Now the iframe is centered at the center of your screen. Just look like you're accessing the real Magento backend.

Versions:

• Magento : 1.3.2.1
• Joomla : 1.5.14

Demo:

Here are two accounts so you can try out two different Maegnto admin backend layouts:

• Manager account:    Username: caribbean        |   Pass: caribbean
• Admin    account:    Username: bridge             |   Pass: bridge

Joomla admin URL: http://www.hateit.net/joomla14/administrator/index.php

Magento site is still on the other domain : http://www.iamtotti.com/server/shop/index.php/admin/

Looking forward to hearing from you :)

Coming Up:

1. Wrap up the backend with SSO feature, mentioned in the 1st blog entry.
2. Probably, a frontend module for example, Product catalog show. <-- This is not guaranteed but I will try my best to make it on time as this should not be as complicated as the backend features.

Anh Nguyen, tot2ivn